I did a search on the word "crime" and found quite a few things that showed up. It is apparent that crime has increased in recent years and there are a number of different views. Some say it is only "petty" theft that occassionally takes place, others have talked of forcible entry to vehicles and lodging, others say, they never have problems and feel entirely safe. I'd like to hear comments from those that have been to the island recently regarding crime or lack thereof. I've never been to Bonaire but it sounds quite appealing aside from the (potential at least) crime issue. This crime thing is leaving me undecided about whether or not to make a trip there with my wife.

Jim,

I have made 6 trips from 9/96 to 11/01 and have never experienced any type of theft personally. I am leaving on 2/8 for my 7th trip and have never had any concerns about crime on Bonaire. There are others on bonaire talk that have made many more trips than I so maybe a few will comment.

I wouldn't let the crime issue discourage you. Bonaire, like anywhere in the world is not theft proof.

This will be my 10 year old daughter's 3rd trip and I wouldn't risk bringing her to a place that I felt her safety was at risk. Between the two of us we can't get to Bonaire as often as we wish we could. 4 times a year would be awesome!

Go for it....you'll have no regrets.

Once there once but we felt quite safe. I would not leave anything in a car of value while diving but other than that I would not worry much about it. My guess is the keyword search had a lot of hits on auto related incidents. Quite a few times I saw divers leave locked cars with tempting looking items sitting on the front seat in remote areas. That is risky anywhere. We left our jeep wide open and I figured if someone needed our t-shirts and flip flops that bad, they could have them. Nothing was taken.

Jim,
Don't let the "Crime Problem" keep you away from a great experience. Follow the basics about not leaving any temptations available in plain sight and enjoy the island.
Bob

With the advantages of using the internet, crimes get reported immediately to the public. True, we do have our petty theft, car breakins, etc. but if folks follow the reccomendations published by the car rental companies etc. and use the in room safes, etc. there will be no problems. It would be a shame not to visit Bonaire!

Jim:

In 5 trips over 8 years we have never expereinced any type of crime problem.

The only issue we know of is kids / teenagers rumaging through vehicles while the occupants go shore diving. We have always rented an open jeep / suzuki type vehicle with no top, and we do almost all shore diving.

When shore diving use your head. Do not leave money, beer, sun glasses, etc. in you car. Do not lock your car. Do not roll your windows up, or the kids may break them to gain entry. (It is so hot that rollong windows up will almost melt the car interior also)

Hide your stuff in bushes, or do not bring it shore diving. I carry my walking around money, charge card, ID, keys, etc. in my pocket when I shore dive. I hide my beer and camera in the bushes. So far so good.

Bonaire is as dafe a place as I have been. The people are as nice as I have met. The diving is good, and shore diving does not get any better.

Dave

Jim, I totaly agree with michael.. Just go, be smart and enjoy..

I just returned and did not have any problems and did not hear anyone else that had anything stolen. I even made several night dives in remote locations.

If your visiting a new city in the states, would you leave your wallet, cell phone, or laptop in the front seat of the rental car overnight? Last year a couple left ALL their dive gear (BC, computer, reg) in plain sight in a tiny mini-van overnight and they could not figure out why it was missing the next morning....HELLO!

Just use common sense and follow the advice given in the above post and you should not have any problems.

I've only been to Bonaire once, last year, but we had no problems. We rented a car for a couple of days and did some shore diving and everything was fine. I agree with don't leave tempting things in plain view and use the safe in the hotel. The biggest problem I heard about was from the people whose luggage was lost/late but that was the airlines fault not the Bonairians. I carry my regulator in my carry-on for just that reason. I'de go back to Bonaire in a heartbeat.

Chiming in to agree with all of the above, after many trips over the past ten years.
If you like the activities the island has to offer, there are very few places that can beat it...perhaps none!

Just returned Saturday. We did shore diving almost exclusively at various sites. Did not have any problems with theft. Left the windows down and went on our way. After reading some of the posts we were a bit apprehensive, but did not have a single problem.

Thanks to everyone that responded to my inquiry a couple days ago regarding crime on Bonaire. Doesn't sound like there is enough of an issue to stop me from going. I do hope the local authorities work to adopt a zero tolerance policy however.

I heard that they recently caught some kids that were doing a lot of the petty theft, but that could just be rumor for the tourist.

While I was there over the holidays one of our dive group foolishly left their passports, wallets and cameras and jewelry in the LOCKED car down near white slave and they surfaced to find the windows smashed and everything gone..huge hassle.

All around the island you will see signs of "smashed" car window glass in out of the way places (Karpata, WS Park, etc).. bottom line - leave the windows open, the car unlocked, bring little and what you do bring shove under or behind seats and leave a few token "stealables" (like dirty t shirts and flip flops) on the seats and I bet no one will bother you.

I havefollowed this sage advice for many many trips to Bonaire (and ANY major tourist destination like Jamaica, Maui, Egypt, etc) and have had zero problems.

The only time I have been robbed on vacation was when I had pirates board my sailboat at night in the Grenadines! (when I was sleeping!).

Anyway.. ENJOY BON

The rumour re kids being caught was true, not fodder for tourist consumption. Some of the kids were 13. The are bening punished and being made to take tourism awareness classes among other things.

Michael:

One obvious question is: Were these kids (how many?) responsible for the preponderance of these activities, or are there many others STILL doing this sort of thing?

There were 4 if I am not mistaken and it seems to have put a dent in the problem. Let's keep our fingers crossed and keep educating the youth that tourism is the life blood of this island.

Michael,

Were the kids stealing for fun or for profit, i.e., any adults behind them?

I bet if you ask Zulay, she would be able to give you the inside scoop.

the kids are stealing for the adults in many situations. its not just kids and smashed car windows, its about stolen cars, dive gear, midnight "cat" burglery, bars over every window and door and on a rare time or two somebody gets waxed.

but they say its gettin better, I may go back someday.

That is why I asked. If adults behind it, they will train a new crew. Thought Michael might have info from the official side

Glen, me thinks the subject is beat to death, and the "local" boys are burned out talking about it, I guess.

Now if they get that sewer project going, they should be smart and make it as labor intensive as possible to create that many more jobs. In Latin America that seems to be a formula that works most of the time. Road and sewer are not infrastructure projects but social programs.

put a pick in their hand, that might keep em out of my stuff.

ok andy run yer spell checker